Sunday, November 27, 2011

Thoughts on this Sunday....

Was going through some old bookmarks and a great article on the Mind/Shift blog came to mind for a re-read.

21 Things That Will Be Obsolete by 2020, you can read the entire list here, and my thoughts on three are below.

Desks - This shift should have already happened five years ago with the boom of laptops in schools. My current school is only five years old and many of the planning decisions in my opinion were very short sighted.

aka: Desktop computers were purchased with the school, only to be replaced by laptops this year. Overhead projectors were purchased initially, with LCDs and Doc Cameras coming soon after. Desks are still being purchased for classrooms we're adding, despite our vote for moveable furniture, or simply comfortable chairs to 'learn' in throughout the day.

Wikipedia - My teaching career spanned from 3rd grade, to Junior College, and Wikipedia was always a discussion for my class. Not a good place to start with research, 'the' place to start your research. If you can cross-reference on two other sites, you can use the original information from Wikipedia. Many teachers I talk with are still reluctant for their kids to use this resource, even Google is/has changed their search algorithm to utilize current trends and social suggestions for their results. Come-on, hop on board with Wikipedia.

I.T. Departments - Probably the touchiest and for sure the costliest if we don't change. Touchy because jobs are at stake, which brings unions into the picture. Costly, because districts are spending lots of money on hardware and personnel when there are free or discounted options available.